The Devil Calls
written by: C H Elton
Micky had told me that I would get a visit, but he couldn’t say when. He said, Try not to show that you’re scared, you will be, but don’t show it, the Devil will thrive on your fear, and it’ll make the experience difficult. Nothing happened for about a week, but then I knew that he was going to drop in that night; I could just sense it. All day I’d had this feeling of tension and foreboding, so when I went to bed that night, I was already tingling with anticipation, and my heart was beating strongly with a steady but faster rhythm. I lay there naked, as usual, under the duvet, just listening and waiting, but nothing happened, and I must have dropped off into a light sleep. It felt like I’d drifted off for just a few minutes when I sensed something stir in the corner of my bedroom. I sat up instantly and tried to focus, but weirdly, the light seemed to be playing games with me, I thought. It was dim, generally, creeping in over the top of the rail that ran across the top of my window, and through a small gap down the centre of the curtains but it was a strange light that seemed to throb gently as it drifted over the bed and across to the walls but in the corner, it just didn’t penetrate that area of deep darkness.
I could feel an energy pulsing out of the blackness, and then all at once, what little light that existed was extinguished, and I sat in total silence, staring into absolute obscurity. I couldn’t see or hear anything, but I sensed the presence, ‘Is that you?’ I kept my voice clear and level. There was no way I was going to show any fear, not yet anyway. ‘Hello, what do you want?’ I probed further, not really knowing what I or it, was going to do next. The stillness struck me, and quite rationally, I thought that this was probably the calm before the storm and realised I was sitting bolt upright with the duvet pulled up under my chin, and every muscle in my body felt so tense that it hurt.
The hissing noise made me start. It was quiet at first, like that of escaping air from a valve, and it continued without a break or change in volume for what seemed like ages but might have been only a minute in reality. ‘Can I see you?’ I tried to engage, thinking about the advice I’d been given by Micky ‘Can I help you?’ I offered. And then it sniggered, again quietly, in a way that made me feel belittled. I knew that I was no match for whatever thing was there, lurking in the corner, watching me, playing with my senses and emotions, just taking its time, judging me, and planning the torment that was obviously going to follow shortly. I was willing my vision to adjust and work with whatever light I could find, but there was none, a still nothingness.
In a moment, I saw its eyes flash open wide, and the whites appeared like two dazzling lamps that blazed through the blackness. In their centre were fiery red flames that flickered like candles, and as I got accustomed to the change in illumination, the light radiated slowly outwards to unravel a full face that vaguely resembled a human form, but at the same time, it didn’t. As I studied it and got used to the growing circle of light that continued to creep outwards, it started to move slowly towards me. Hovering off the floor, it inched towards the edge of my bed, very slowly, deliberately, and all the while staring at my face that was fixed so as not to show any fear or emotion.
I was determined to hold myself in check and so returned its gaze, directly into its own eyes, and I did so. The intensity softened, the flickering flames had extinguished, the fiery red glow had turned into a soft, comforting brightness, and the form itself, as it moved ever nearer, had changed as well. No more the twisted, aggressive-looking creature I’d been watching, but now, although still clearly of another world, it had morphed into a human male; a really attractive man now hovered just below the ceiling, above my bed, looking down at me with the deepest, alluring eyes I had ever seen and smiling with a huge, bright smirk.
‘Hello, Sally,’ the voice was sneering, and as the words formed, so did the creature, back into the horror figure of a few moments ago. I was so confused, I didn’t know what to say or how to react, but I remembered Micky saying it fed off the emotions it felt in the room, and I decided that I wouldn’t be intimidated, not yet anyway. ‘I’ve been expecting you,’ I murmured and pulled the duvet further into my chin. ‘What happens now?’ I asked with a defiance that surprised me.
I watched and waited for it to answer, but it remained hovering silently above me. It then moved a bit closer so it was only a couple of feet away and I saw the definition of its facial features start to flip rapidly between different forms, and I witnessed both familiar faces and strangers appear like the rolling barrel of an old style fruit machine, spinning and coming to a stop as a friend I once knew, as a previous boyfriend, as my father, as a neighbour and a dozen others I didn’t know that I knew. I went on the offensive, knowing that at some point in the very near future, this being was going to have me, so I offered myself to it like a sacrificial lamb at the altar.
I threw off the duvet covering and slid down onto my back, staring at it, lowering it closer and closer so that it stopped just inches away from my naked body. ‘Come on then, get it over with.’ My voice remained strong, which pleased me somewhat, but I was trembling inside, and the heat from its shifting form was making me sweat.
‘I like you, Sally,’ it spoke with a voice that resembled that of a theatre actor, luring its audience in with velvety tones. ‘I think I’ve made a good choice with you.’ I looked up into its eyes and noticed it had adopted another rather pleasing male form, but it was only the head and shoulders. Below its waist was nothing; it just petered out like a torn bed sheet flapping in the breeze.
‘Ordinarily, you’re not my persuasion, Sally,’ it uttered the words softly and then started to cackle, which was unnerving, and then that turned into a booming laugh, ‘but I’m going to make an exception,’ and with that, I immediately felt like a dozen pairs of hands were stroking my body. It wasn’t aggressive; each stroke was delicately soft, but the sensation took my breath away, and I tensed, instinctively closing my eyes tightly.
Every bit of my skin felt like it was being caressed, and all thoughts of keeping any bit of control disappeared. I felt my legs and arms spreading wide, although I wasn’t consciously moving them, or anything for that matter, and I sensed a slight circular movement that moved me in an arc and then back again, intensifying the tingling sensations that were raging across my torso, down through my legs, and across my arms. Momentarily, I pictured myself looking a bit like a female version of the Vitruvian Man before, alarmingly, I felt an oozing pressure build quickly in each of the entry points to my body, as they all filled up with what felt like hot, slimy liquid.
My ears burned, and I started to panic as my mouth and nostrils became thick and the tissue around them expanded until the airflow was cut off. I jerked and started to struggle wildly. ‘Calm down, Sally, relax, and you’ll find that you can breathe normally.’ The warming voice had an immediate calming effect, and I let go of all of my tension. Instantly, I was able to take in air and gasped at the relief that it brought to my senses.
Strangely, in that relaxed state, I liked what was happening to me, and being utterly confused again, I swam between alarm, pleasure, and guilt at what the Devil was doing to my stretched-out form. My body started to feel the pulsing rhythm of this onslaught, and I began to sense the impending climax deep in my brain; I opened my eyes for the first time since I’d been occupied and would have screamed had I been able, to see my own face staring down at me, contorted in ecstatic pleasure, mirroring me from a few inches away.
‘Stay relaxed, Sally, let it happen,’ my voice instructed me as I tensed myself getting ready for the end, and as I did, just a few moments later, my head exploded, followed by my torso spurting blood and gore out across the bed and surrounding room. My arms and legs burst from my body, flying away in their relative directions, and it felt amazing, like nothing I had ever experienced in my life, and the sensual nature of the most intense feelings carried on and on, and on.
After I had felt the explosion and enjoyed the aftermath, I became aware that I must now be dead, but I wasn’t scared or concerned in any way, I was so incredibly content, and I lay there replaying the intense power of what had just taken place, and weirdly wondering where my head was in relation to the rest of my body parts. That’s when I felt the pain, though. It started with a tingle and increased to a stinging that quickly grew into an agonising searing fire deep inside my stomach, my groin, my limbs, and eventually my head.
I dared myself to open my eyes and found myself not spread across the room, broken apart, but curled up in the foetal position, pulling my knees tightly into my chest, and it was then that I started to quietly sob. ‘Sally, don’t cry,’ the voice made me jump. ‘I think I have found your weakness.’ It prodded at me, ‘Is it the desertion or is it the feeling of being used?’ I struggled to get some control of my hurting body and managed to sit up.
The creature in its demonic form was sitting in my chair at the corner of the room, legs crossed, head down, looking like a parody of ‘the thinker’ statue by Rodin. I stared out across the room and, not for the first time that evening, recalled Micky’s words, ‘I’m not crying,’ I said defiantly, ‘what now? Now that you’ve had what you came for, what do we do now?’ It looked across at me. I was still naked and felt weirdly vulnerable even after what had just taken place, but I couldn’t find anything to cover myself with.
‘I said earlier, Sally, that I like you. You are exactly the sort of person I need, and I think you will make a difference in this world, given some time and support. We should see to the matter in hand first and then look at the wider picture.’ It stopped, and I let all of that sink in.
‘What do those two things mean?’ I think I knew what ‘the matter in hand’ was, but it would be good to get clarity and ‘the wider picture’, what was that? I noticed that it had softened again, and its form was more human now, although it retained its devilish facial features. ‘You and Micky can start work on seeking revenge against your previous colleagues,’ he clarified, ‘but I think you can lead this particular project, Sally. You have the skills required to direct the strategic plan, and Micky will take your wishes and manage the operation. In other words, he will dance to your tune whilst keeping you up to date with the movements of the people involved.’ I smiled, and it hurt, but I was happy at that.
‘What does the second bit mean?’ I asked and at the same time realised that the pain was subsiding. ‘That is about my longer-term plan, my mission statement if you will.’
‘And that is…what exactly?’
‘You will play an instrumental part in delivering it, Sally, but not until you finish priority one.’ It smiled and stood from the chair. ‘I need to be moving on shortly, so I’ll tell you this. You will take a significant part in my three point plan: 1) rid the world of the most horrible people 2) start the redistribution of wealth from the world’s largest organisations and countries into those less able to fend for themselves and 3) my ultimate goal if you like, achieve a state of one world thinking that balances existence across the globe so that no-one suffers unnecessarily.’ My mouth has dropped open as I take it all in, and my head spins.
I just don’t have any words and stare at the figure that stands in front of me. ‘Think it over and chat it through with Micky,’ and with that, it disappeared. I sit still for what feels like ages, my head develops a hundred questions, none more important than ‘what the fuck just happened?’
‘You certainly made an impression on the boss.’ Micky’s word made me jump so much that I thought I would hit the ceiling. ‘Fuck it, Micky, you nearly made me shit myself.’ He laughed that cockney guffaw, ‘Get a shirt on, Sal, we got work to do.’
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